Faith Lessons

Last Sunday, we welcomed Andrew and his family to Faith Community Church. We are asking Andrew to equip children’s leaders and parents and to teach our children. Just like this activity center we helped put up in Edmonds City Park last summer, navigating it can be confusing and even dangerous. We would never allow a child to play unattended on this equipment. Our presence with them in life is one of the protective elements God intends for us to provide. Life is not always a flat, soft piece of grass. Sometimes we have to navigate walls and stairs. Other times we have to take a step of faith and let go so we can experience the thrill of the slide… And sometimes we get hurt. We can’t prevent every accident, but we can be there to protect against most and provide compassion when they do get hurt. Parents, grandparents, and Junior Connection teachers are faith mentors to our children.

One of our goals is to help them experience – not just hear! – the unconditional love God has for them. Personally, I had a hard time truly knowing that deep in my bones until I was almost 50 years old! The God I grew up to believe in was a strict God, a God to be afraid of, a God to avoid because of His judgment for my endless number of sins. Even some passages in the Bible make God seems more judgmental than gracious. Our children are saved in Jesus, but not by trying to earn his love. Our children are saved simply by accepting Jesus as their Savior (even if they don’t fully understand what that means yet), by being the precious souls they are, and learning, even from the mistakes they make as they go. We accept the trial-and-error process pretty much everywhere in life, but when it comes to life in Christ, we seem to think that from Day 1 nothing but perfection is good enough. As parents we have to protect our children but not smother them. Encourage them rather than criticize them. Be courageous enough to let them make their own mistakes and celebrate their successes.

What lesson of faith and life can you imagine both children and their leaders learning on this playground?